Exploring my experiences with mental illness

Gratitude 3: Return of the Gratitude

Yeah, I suppose the title could be a reference to either Star Wars or Lord of the Rings (I refuse to acknowledge the more recent Star Wars movies). But for purposes of this, it doesn’t really matter, because what really matters is getting my gratitude on.

First, three things I am grateful for. Today, I am grateful for Amazon.com, because of the availability of several things I am looking forward to receiving (and which I will keep secret until the intended recipient is made aware). Having so many things available, from so many unusual places, is extremely useful. Second, I am grateful for the frozen Jamba smoothies I found at the local grocery store; following the instructions on them makes smoothies far superior to anything I was making on my own, and they are both tasty and somewhat nutritional. Third, I am grateful for Captain America comics; I brought my collection back from St. Louis with me, and he’s my favorite superhero. Reading Captain America comics helps to keep my mood positive, which is something I need from time to time.

As for a positive experience from the last 24 hours, today I spent a while talking to a close friend of mine, one of my oldest friends, and we talked for quite a while. She gave me some good advice, we talked about a lot of fun stuff, and it felt good to get back in touch with her, since we haven’t spent a lot of time talking lately. She’s been busy with work and a new baby, and the fact that she can juggle all that while also giving me good, sound advice is pretty amazing.

For exercise today, I was back to the routine from Convict Conditioning, working through several of the listed routines; right now, the ones I seem to be doing the best with are the very beginnings of the chains that will lead to, hopefully, being able to do a one-armed pushup, one-armed pullup, and hanging straight leg raise. I am only just starting step two (of ten) for each, so we’ll see. Like before, I took time for meditation in between sets, and it seems to work pretty well.

As for a message of gratitude, I sent one today to an old friend, someone without whom I probably wouldn’t be here. I don’t know when the message will be read; my friend does not check e-mail very often. But just knowing it was sent makes me feel a little better.

That’s what I’ve got for today. Tune in tomorrow for more gratitudinous excitement!